Domain of Power-The Dreamer (Book 3)

Chapter 28: Point of No Return

A/N: This is the 2nd to the last chapter before the finale. The final chapter will be released soon. Thanks to those who read my story. I love feedback so I would greatly appreciate any comments on what you liked or didn't like.  Thanks.

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The tight blindfold squeezed my eyes shut, rendering me blind. The guard, who led me by the hand, shoved me into a chair. His burly hands clinched the knot tied at the nape, acting to stabilize me before the cloth was pulled from my face. The only thing breaking the spell of darkness was a single oil lamp on the table. Then those same burly hands grabbed a fistful of hair, tugging my head backwards. I winced. His hands stroked my curls before something sharp plowed through my mane. Clumps of hair cascaded around me. I held my breath waiting for the worst. After he released his grip on my scalp, I stroked the stubble that remained.

His beady eyes glowed in the dark. "What do you have to say for yourself, prince? Did you really think you could fool anyone for long?" He glared at me, daring me to speak. It was the one opportunity I had to justify myself, to prove I was in the right. Yet how could I prove my innocence? How could I take back everything I meant and the new being I was becoming?

My captor inhaled a sharp intake of air before expelling a loud sigh. Without warning, his hand lunged for the back of my throat. I tried to resist, but his grasp only grew tighter.

"Answer me. You ungrateful—"

"Please...I..." I gasped. My vision blurred with the darkness.

"Let him go!" The affirmative voice from behind seemed to lessen my captor's death grip. "We have yet to hear from the King or the Chief Executor, as to what to do with him..." The rest of the words seemed to be a mumbled blur as my vision went completely black.

My eyes stirred open only to be greeted by more darkness. I stirred in the straw mattress I now found myself on. A tingly sensation traveled across my bare arms, sending me scratching. Maybe I was not the only one on this bed. I checked my mattress for any tiny critters but it was too dark to spot anything. Just when I decided to get off the itchy cot, I almost stepped on a rat. I flinched, allowing the creature time to escape through a hole in the wall. That was close! Now I really wanted to get out of here! I clenched the steel bars that separated me from freedom. How long was I out for? Where were the other prisoners? Where was Romeos? Perhaps I would not find the answers until morning. Then another thought struck me. Was it morning yet? I looked around for windows finding nothing but cold slabs of gray and iron bars. With no sunlight coming through my prison cell, it was nearly impossible to tell what time it was.

Adding to my discomfort and confusion were my thoughts on Romeos. He was separated from me as the guards grabbed hold of us. I recalled the fresh memory of his fight for freedom, as he struggled with the two guards who tried to restrain him from running away. I gave in, when I realized I could not keep fighting fate. Besides grandfather Miletus, Romeos was the one true friend that stood by my side through better or worse. He was one of the voices that told me to continue to persevere even when I wanted to give up. He enjoyed every moment of life and did not always take himself so seriously, like many of our peers who tried so hard to play a part. I finally learned what it meant to just live in the moment and not be so afraid. Just when I felt my life was beginning, I felt all the walls were closing in again. Now I stood here wondering what lay next or if I would see the light of day anymore. Our excursion to defy everything just to right the wrongs had cost us dearly.

Just then, footsteps echoed the hall. Through the metal bars, a burly guard appeared with a clay bowl in hand. Without a word, he slid the bowl filled with what looked like slop through the small opening between the floor and the bars. I stared at the dry hard bread and lumpy porridge.